Turkey has indefinitely postponed a meeting with Sweden and Finland scheduled for early February on the accession process of the two Nordic countries to NATO, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.
Sweden’s candidacy – which has been blocked by Ankara since May – was deadlocked this weekend after several anti-Turkish demonstrations in Stockholm, where a copy of the Quran was burned.
Citing diplomatic sources, Turkish “media” reported that the meeting of the standing committee with Turkish, Swedish and Finnish representatives, scheduled for the first days of February, had been suspended, thus halting the analysis of the two Nordic countries’ terms of accession for was postponed indefinitely. countries in the Atlantic Alliance.
Turkey had already canceled an announced visit by Sweden’s defense minister, which was intended to allay Ankara’s objections to Stockholm’s candidacy.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sweden could no longer count on Ankara’s support for NATO membership, appealing for Stockholm’s permission for anti-Turkish demonstrations.
Faced with this scenario, Finland admitted for the first time today that it is considering the possibility of an isolated candidacy, as Turkey has not objected to Helsíki’s intentions.
Turkey also accuses Sweden of harboring Kurdish militants and sympathizers it describes as “terrorists”, particularly those from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
To date, 28 of the 30 member countries of the Atlantic Alliance have ratified the membership of the two Nordic countries, which must be approved unanimously.
Apart from Turkey, only Hungary – which says it does not want to thwart the intentions of the two Nordic countries – has yet to give final approval.
For Turkey, any possible progress depends on measures by Sweden to extradite people accused of terrorism or participation in the 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan.
Source: DN
